Songs of Phony Lullabies 

Chapter 1

"There he is! Kill him!" Screams from humans approaching him, they were wearing armor and magical robes. Knights and magicians came to subjugate a monster, Shruden a human-like monster that has raven wings, purple eyes, and human intelligence. They threw arrows, launched magic, and charged. 

One by one they were defeated, it was too strong even against such numbers. The leader of the group got eaten by fear as he slowly saw his men fall down. 

Davin walked towards him. 

"You shouldn't have come here, human. I do not wish to get killed by anyone other than Margarette! You weaklings are nowhere near than to tickle my wings! Tell her that I'm getting bored of waiting! Tell her to pay me a visit or else I'll wreak havoc in the nearest town! Pick up your men before I kill them! Scram!" 

He panickly left on his own leaving his comrades behind. The murderous voice made him hold for his survival.

"Tch! Human scum."

Now that his comrades were abandoned he plans to use them as hostages as he patiently waits.

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"Davin! Let them go!" A woman's voice was heard and a figure approached by the distance.

"Haha! Margarette! You've finally decided to pay me a visit!"

"If I wasn't told to pick these idiots up I wouldn't even bother coming here"

"Don't be stingy; draw your sword!"

Davin extended his wings, he was preparing for battle.

"And the hostages?" Margarette wanted to take them away first before fighting him to avoid casualties.

"Oh, don't worry they're tied up under the mountain right before the entrance, I figured that you might skip the entrance that's why I already placed them there ahead of time."

Margarette sighed, she gripped her sword pointing at him. Davin was excited, he was filled with excitement. 

Davin cast and threw wind magics, they were condensed blade-like winds. Each object hit by these is either cut in half or crushed by its pressure. The attack comes simultaneously.

Margarette started dodging it as if she were performing a dance. Skillfully dodging without wasted movements. She was dancing. Davin added earth magic and fired countless sharp rocks along with the wind blades. Margarette blocked them as she danced through the gaps of the wind blades. She then closed her eyes during the process. Davin increased the numbers, thickened the blades, and increased the speed with both earth and wind magic that he cast. The ground was getting destroyed, and Margarette's footing became difficult but that idea only gave her the thrill. She leaped the moment she was about to get hit, dodging them mid-air would be impossible but she used the force of the wind blades to move her body in mid-air. She continues to block, dodge, and parry for fifteen minutes. She began to sweat. 

"Now that you've sweat, I could say that you're done warming up?"

"You could say that" she replied.

"Alright then." 

The attack stopped. Davin leaped towards Margarette, his hands grew thick nails that resembled sharp talons aiming for Margarette. She blocked the attack and countered with a spinning reverse kick. The kick landed on his face and he was sent flying. He quickly recovered and flapped his wings to gain height, he dived while folding his wings making the dive faster. Margarette plans to avoid it by stepping a few steps to the side, expecting that he will crush on solid ground. 

Davin noticed and opened his wings while enforcing magic on them, making his body briefly float in mid-air. His right leg used the ground as footing and performed a back sweep. Margarette saw through it and gracefully jumped in a spinning motion, having a good stance enabled her to execute a backhand swing. Davin defended it using his wings and quickly cast earth magic, there were sharp spikes coming from the ground. She felt the attack coming and flipped a couple of times backward to safely avoid them. Davin threw a spear-like rock while Margarette was dodging the first attack. She spins her body sideways and avoids the spear. 

"Your control in magic has improved" Margarette praised him as she landed elegantly.

"And you're still as nimble as ever!" 

Margarette decided that she'd be the one to attack, she closed their distance in a quick zigzag motion, and the moment he was in her range she aimed for a stab to his abdomen using her sword. Davin caught the sword using both his hands but Margarette kept pushing enough to lift his feet off the ground, she then used a hundred and eighty degrees kick with her left leg which landed on his upper temple. Davin's body slammed to the ground, a follow-up axe kick with her right leg hitting the rear part of his head, it was strong enough to bury his head to the ground. His hand grabbed her foot, she wasn't quick enough to pull her leg away. Davin then pushed his body using his other hand along with his wings lifting him and Margarette up, he slammed her down. The impact made her cough out of pain. Davin could have kept slamming her but he threw her away creating distance between them. 

"Come on Margarette, down get caught by me. Once I catch you next time I won't let you go"

"For someone who has enormous magic to have such physical strength, you really are a monster"

"Hey, hey, I could stomach it if other people were to call me a monster but you? Nah, it doesn't feel right when you're the one to call me that. So when are you going to unseathe your sword? This whole time you've been fighting me without drawing its blades, you seem to underestimate me now compared to back then" 

Margarette recalled her past defeats. 

"If you don't pull that thing then that'll be your sixth defeat, that's a good sword you have to be honest, it may be the key to defeating me. You should know what will happen if you're defeated again, right?" 

Margarette's face was slightly flustered.

"You're so cute Margarette I couldn't get enough of you!" 

Davin launched an attack the moment he saw Margarette recover from the impact.

He was doing the same thing Margarette used, a hundred eighty degrees kick. Margarette blocked it using her sword while her hands were supporting it, the heavy impact made her fall to her knees.

"How foolish of you Margarette! You should've just dodged it! Don't tell me you want me to be the victor?!"

"S-shut up!"

Davin grabbed a piece of her cloth and threw her again.

"Come now pull the sword out!"

"I won't!"

Davin clicked his tongue and used his maximum speed, he appeared in front of her and pointed his sharp claws on her neck, it slightly touched her skin but it was too sharp which made her bleed. 

"It's your loss."

Davin claimed his victory. His claws reverted back as he grabbed her jaws, his thumb, and middle finger were at the end of her jaws, his other hand pulled Margarette's waist and locked her body close to him. He licks the spilled blood on her neck. It was ticklish, how his lip was gently touching her skin.

"Do be quick with it." her voice was stiff.

"Did you know? You're the only woman who gets me excited and I wanted to tell you this, your eyes are beautiful. The same color as mine" his wings enveloped her. The damage she received from their battle slowly healed, his hand left her jaw and reached the back of her head. He pulled her close and whispered.

"Don't forget about the promise, I'll keep waiting until you're strong enough to kill me"

"I can defeat you if I could just use the sword."

Once she felt that her wounds healed, she pushed Davin off but his whole body felt like it was a giant boulder in front of her.

"Push a bit more harder" he taunted. Margarette clenched her arm and delivered a clean uppercut, it was strong enough for him to loosen up. She pushed him using both arms, enough force to form a distance perfect for a solid back-kick. Davin was sent flying and landed on top of a branch of a tree, he fell. 

Margarette flees from his sight. She quickly went and took the hostages. While rescuing them little did she know that her face was a little flustered. 

Being hugged by someone you admire gives a different feeling for a woman who keeps herself cool-headed whenever they meet each other.

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It all started when Davin saved Margarette while she was being attacked by high-level monsters. Margarette is an adventurer. She kills monsters for a living. While she was new to this job she stumbled upon a quest that almost ended her life. She didn't think of her being in debt to a monster for saving her life. A Shruden that goes with the name Davin. He has a majestic vibe, his almond purple eyes, long silky straight black hair, and raven wings.

Margarette clearly remembers how she fell in love at first sight with Davin. He was incredibly handsome and powerful, he was also feared. People normally should feel afraid when they see a Shruden in front of them but things were different in Margarette's case. Shruden is one of the highest levels for the Monster Subjugation Quest. They are considered as the 'Angels of Death'. Despite having enormous in-born strength these creatures are scarce in population. They are only born from large mana sources, these creatures are passive-aggressive in terms of living. They only get aggressive when they are starved. 

Margarette's eyes are locked on him, that was also the very reason why Davin took an interest in her. 

A human who doesn't give him a fearful look or scornful eyes. A unique reaction he's not familiar with. A foreign first encounter.

"Human, what's your name?"

She was still at a loss for words but she managed to reply,

"Margarette."

"Margarette, you owe me for saving your life. I'll collect your debt in the future and in order for you to repay this favor, I want you to kill me. With your current strength, you are nothing but an ant, therefore I need you to get strong. Strong enough to pierce my heart" His voice was sad and lonely as he stated his conditions.

Margarette didn't give a proper reply, she was still mesmerized. Ever since then, Davin kept going with a misunderstanding about Margarette's debt he only agreed on. She doesn't plan to end his life, she's not the kind of person to kill her benefactor. Davin spreads his wings, 

"I'll stay in this area, I'll wait for you" he flew away leaving her behind.

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Going back to the present, Margarette arrived at the entrance of the mountain. The people she was about to rescue were tied up with thick vines and were badly beaten.

"You guys are pitiful." She said as she dragged them back to the city.